Premier Lotteries Ireland adjures the Government to spare National Lottery from threat

The Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI), which provides online and in-store lottery services in Ireland, called on the country’s government to halt offshore companies that offer betting on draws.

The Irish Sun newspaper reported that PLI met with a number of ministers to discuss the issue in an effort to establish a “legislative solution to prevent damage to the sustainability of the National Lottery and Good Cause Fund”.

Companies that allow customers to bet on the outcome of a draw are spared from making a donation to good causes, but punters are still able to win jackpot prizes.

The newspaper stated that: “PLI is pushing for a similar law that is in place in the UK whereby bets on the national draw are not allowed.”

A spokeswoman for PLI said: “The National Lottery is concerned at the growth of unregulated, offshore, bet-on-lottery operators over the last 18 months. The parasitic activities of these lotteries are posing a serious threat to the National Lottery, and in turn, the millions raised annually for good causes.”

“We urge the government to take urgent action to protect the National Lottery from this threat. The National Lottery was set up with the express purpose of raising funds for good causes.”

“There is a loophole in the current regulatory environment which allows betting on the outcome of lotteries, and offshore betting companies — underwritten by insurance policies — are exploiting this loophole.”

In response, a spokesman for Ireland’s for Public Expenditure said that it would be “engaging further” with PLI and the country’s gambling regulator “in respect of reviewing the impacts of these online betting websites on the Irish National Lottery and in examining any potential actions that could be considered to address these issues”.

Athira is a self-described “logophile” – a lover of words. She loves updating her vocabulary and playing around with words, to frame a sensible world of letters. Letters come alive when they become words and when words become sentences. And that’s her job, to put them together in a meaningful way without loosing its essence.
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She holds a Masters degree in bio-technology, but she has always been interested in the organic farming of words. Besides writing content for our daily news feed, she is also working as staff writer/editor with Impressions Content Management, based in Kerala, India, which offers writing and editing services to clients around the world.

Michigan Sports Betting Legislation to be Ready by Super Bowl

Michigan State Rep. Brandt Iden, R-Kalamazoo, an active force behind the drive to legalize sports betting in the state following the U.S. Supreme Court order, has said he aims to complete the legalities by the Super Bowl. He said: “My goal is to have this up and running by the Super Bowl. Casinos are moving forward because they know it’s going to come to fruition at some point. If we don’t do this, we will continue to lose consumers to other states.”

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have approved sports betting in their states since the court order. Michigan lawmakers are following suit by resurrecting an old plan.

Even though the bills had widespread support in the Legislature, they were vetoed by former Gov. Rick Snyder, who opposed the expansion of gambling in the state and feared a loss of revenue for the state lottery, from which revenues are funneled to schools.

Iden is hoping for a different outcome with a new governor in office.

The bill calls for an 8% tax on sports betting, which would generate between $8.7 million to $11.2 million in tax revenues. That’s based on a sport betting market in Michigan, both in the casinos and online, of up to $225 million.

The bill comes as the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for legalized sports betting across the nation last year. The justices ruled that a 25-year-old federal law that has effectively prohibited sports betting outside Nevada is unconstitutional. The ruling set the stage for other states to expand legalized gambling as a source of government revenue.

Related

UKGC: £1.8m fine for Silverbond Enterprises

A land-based casino has received a £1.8m fine, an operator licence warning and had additional conditions added to its licence for social responsibility and money laundering failings.

Silverbond Enterprises Limited received the penalties following a Gambling Commission investigation into its Park Lane Club in Mayfair.

Social responsibility failings included not recognising the indicators of potential problem gambling such as a customer displaying violent behaviour which included threatening staff and damaging of property, a customer asking for his winnings to be transferred to his personal bank account to prevent him playing further, and a customer of the casino asking to increase the maximum amount that could be deposited by cheque.

Money laundering failings included the operator’s compliance procedures not detailing how anti-money laundering policies were to be implemented and failing to carry out enhanced due diligence on 61 customers.

Two personal management licence holders at Park Lane Club have also received formal warnings and informed they must improve their record on protecting players and preventing money laundering.

Norwegians across the country’s 11 municipalities are going to the polls today (9 November) to elect representatives to the country’s municipal and county councils. These bodies are responsible for education, public transport, health and elderly care and the collection of certain taxes in each jurisdiction.

Norsk Tipping claimed that with due to certain municipalities and counties being sparsely populated, the chance to win money based on certain candidates winning could lead to tactical voting or corruption.

“It would be possible to [offer odds on the elections], but there are many good reasons not to,” the operator’s director of communications Tonje Sagstuen explained. “The most important thing is that if money is at stake on the outcome of local elections, it can affect both the election and its result in a number of ways.

“It could affect how you vote yourself [and] it allows for […] manipulation,” Sagstuen said. “In other words, gambling can affect, directly or indirectly, who gets into power in your municipality.”

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